MAVERICK
I washed my face and took a breath. I was still waiting for the address to be sent, and I had no idea where to get that amount. When the caller said to bring that kind of amount, he must have known my relationship with Lake, and he knew I could make it possible.
I stared at the two cards in my hand. There was cash in the debit card, but it wasn’t enough. Then I remembered what he told me this morning. My hopes rose beyond the stratosphere.
I was about to cry again at the thought of what I was about to do, and I couldn’t tell him the reason why I did what I did. My heart was bleeding, thinking of betraying Lake and stealing his money. It was like telling his father, yeah, I was after his son’s money. But I would deal with Lake later once I saved my grandmother.
I went inside the room with dread and terror rocking my body. I was so scared. My hands were shaky and cold as ice. I’d never stolen from anyone, let alone from the people I cared about.
I opened the closet door and pressed the shield behind his clothes. His safe appeared. I wiped my tears before I entered the codes, and the safe unlocked. I was torn between relief and terror as I grabbed the stacks of money out of the safe.
I put them all on the bed and kept staring at them as my mind went blank. I counted the bundles. There were more than three hundred thousand in there. Why did he tell me it was two hundred fifty? Was he planning on using the cash? Was he testing me?
I grabbed his duffel from his closet and stuck the bundle in the bottom. Then I put the remaining cash into the safe, locked it, and arranged his shirts just as they were before. Then I grabbed a shirt and pants so no one could see I had huge cash in the bag.